The latest Premier League TV selections have been confirmed by BT Sport and Sky Sports for April and May, and some fans aren’t happy.
However the deadline has come for a batch TV picks to be made, so that clubs can inform fans, deal with tickets and sort travel arrangements out.
Take a look below at what has been chosen along with the rest of the season’s selected games for broadcast…
STATEMENT
The broadcast selections for the weekend of 6-8 May in the UK have been confirmed as well as new dates for previously postponed fixtures.
The Premier League apologises to supporters for the delay in announcing these fixtures and understands fans’ frustrations.
Finalising these particular broadcast selections took longer than expected due to complications around the scheduling on the weekend of the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort.
The Premier League confirms that revised provisional announcement dates for Matchweeks 36 and 37 have been set for 6 April and 14 April, respectively.
This allows for Premier League Matchweek 29, which follows the current FIFA international break, to be completed prior to the next scheduled announcement, creating an additional period of time to aid planning.
Revised or confirmed fixtures
All times BST
Postponed
Man Utd v Chelsea (ex-22 Apr)
Brighton v Man City (ex-23 Apr)
Wednesday 3 May
20:00 Liverpool v Fulham
20:00 Man City v West Ham (Sky Sports)
Thursday 4 May
20:00 Brighton v Man Utd (Sky Sports)
Saturday 6 May
15:00 AFC Bournemouth v Chelsea
15:00 Spurs v Crystal Palace
15:00 Wolves v Aston Villa
17:30 Liverpool v Brentford (Sky Sports)
Sunday 7 May
14:00 Man City v Leeds (Sky Sports)*
16:30 Newcastle v Arsenal (Sky Sports)
19:00 West Ham v Man Utd (BT Sport)
*subject to Man City’s UEFA Champions League participation the following Tuesday
Monday 8 May
15:00 Fulham v Leicester*
17:30 Brighton v Everton (BT Sport)
20:00 Nott’m Forest v Southampton (Sky Sports)
*rescheduled with PL Board approval
ALREADY PICKED
Kick-offs 15:00 unless stated. All times BST.
Saturday 1 April
12:30 Man City v Liverpool (BT Sport)
AFC Bournemouth v Fulham
Arsenal v Leeds
Brighton v Brentford
Crystal Palace v Leicester
Nott’m Forest v Wolves
17:30 Chelsea v Aston Villa (Sky Sports)
Sunday 2 April
14:00 West Ham v Southampton (Sky Sports)
16:30 Newcastle v Man Utd (Sky Sports)
Monday 3 April
20:00 Everton v Spurs (Sky Sports)
Tuesday 4 April
19:45 AFC Bournemouth v Brighton
19:45 Leeds v Nott’m Forest
19:45 Leicester v Aston Villa
20:00 Chelsea v Liverpool (Sky Sports)
Wednesday 5 April
20:00 Man Utd v Brentford
20:00 West Ham v Newcastle (Sky Sports)
Saturday 8 April
12:30 Man Utd v Everton (BT Sport)
Aston Villa v Nott’m Forest
Brentford v Newcastle
Fulham v West Ham
Leicester v AFC Bournemouth
Spurs v Brighton
Wolves v Chelsea
17:30 Leeds v Crystal Palace (Sky Sports)*
*This may move depending on club participation in UEFA Champions League on 11 April
Sunday 9 April
14:00 Southampton v Man City (Sky Sports)*
16:30 Liverpool v Arsenal (Sky Sports)*
*This may move depending on club participation in UEFA Champions League on 11 April
Saturday 15 April
12:30 Aston Villa v Newcastle (BT Sport)
Chelsea v Brighton
Everton v Fulham
Southampton v Crystal Palace
Spurs v AFC Bournemouth
Wolves v Brentford
17:30 Nott’m Forest v Man Utd (Sky Sports)*
*This will move to 16 April, 16:30, live on Sky Sports if Man Utd are in UEFA Europa League the Thursday before
Sunday 16 April
14:00 West Ham v Arsenal (Sky Sports)
16:30 Man City v Leicester (Sky Sports)*
*Subject to possible movement to 15 April, live on Sky Sports depending on participation of Man City & Liverpool in UEFA competitions. Kick-offs tbc
Monday 17 April
20:00 Leeds v Liverpool (Sky Sports)*
*Depending on Liverpool’s participation in UEFA Champions League
Friday 21 April
20:00 Arsenal v Southampton (Sky Sports)*
*This will move to 23 April, 19:00, live on Sky Sports if Arsenal are involved in UEFA Europa League the Thursday before. This is also subject to Southampton’s participation in FA Cup semi-finals
Saturday 22 April
12:30 Fulham v Leeds (BT Sport)*
*Subject to club participation in FA Cup semi-finals
AFC Bournemouth v West Ham
Brentford v Aston Villa
Brighton v Man City
Crystal Palace v Everton
Leicester v Wolves
Liverpool v Nott’m Forest
17:30 Man Utd v Chelsea (Sky Sports)*
*This match will move to 23 April 14:00, live on Sky Sports if Man Utd are UEFA Europa League action the Thursday before or due to their participation in FA Cup semi-finals
Sunday 23 April
14:00 Newcastle v Spurs*
*This match will move to 22 April 17:30, live on Sky Sports, if Man Utd are involved in UEFA Europa League the Thursday before. This is also subject to Spurs’ participation in FA Cup semi-finals
16:30 Brighton v Man City*
*Subject to either clubs’ participation in FA Cup semi-finals
Tuesday 25 April
19:30 Wolves v Crystal Palace (BT Sport)
19:45 Aston Villa v Fulham (BT Sport)
19:45 Leeds v Leicester (BT Sport)
19:45 Southampton v AFC Bournemouth (BT Sport)*
*This will move to 27 April 19:45 if Arsenal v Southampton moves to 23 April 19:45
Wednesday 26 April
19:30 Nott’m Forest v Brighton (BT Sport)
19:45 Chelsea v Brentford (BT Sport)
19:45 West Ham v Liverpool (BT Sport)
20:00 Man City v Arsenal (BT Sport)
Thursday 27 April
19:45 Everton v Newcastle (BT Sport)
20:15 Spurs v Man Utd (BT Sport)
Saturday 29 April
12:30 Crystal Palace v West Ham (BT Sport)
AFC Bournemouth v Leeds
Brentford v Nottingham Forest
Brighton v Wolves
Leicester v Everton
17:30 Arsenal v Chelsea (Sky Sports)
Sunday 30 April
14:00 Fulham v Man City (Sky Sports)
14:00 Man Utd v Aston Villa*
*Due to Spurs v Man Utd being moved to 27 April
14:00 Newcastle v Southampton*
*Due to Everton v Newcastle being moved to 27 April
16:30 Liverpool v Spurs (Sky Sports)
Monday 1 May
20:00 Leicester v Everton (Sky Sports)
Sky Sports Premier League and Football channels are priced £18 per month combined, or viewers can pick up the complete sports package from just £25 per month.
NOW is essentially Sky Sports without a contract. Fans can pay for a day membership (£9.99) or month membership (£33.99).
BT Sport usually shows games in the weekly Saturday lunchtime slot. You can sign up for a BT Sport subscription or pick up a contract-free BT Sport monthly pass for £25.
Amazon Prime Video boasted two rounds of games prior to Christmas. Viewers were allowed to advantage of a 30-day free trial, which included free next-day delivery across the Amazon store.
Why is there a Saturday football blackout in the UK for live streams and TV broadcasts?
Since before the formation of the Premier League, Saturday 3pm kick offs have been forbidden to be televised in the UK, with broadcasters only allowed to show early and late matches on national TV.
Though the 3pm kick off is the slot in which the majority of weekend matches are played with a number of games happening at the same time, they are never broadcast live on television due to the ‘football blackout’.
The United Kingdom is the only place to prohibit the broadcast of 3pm Saturday kick offs.
The 3pm blackout is said to be tradition, with Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday – the go to show where a panel of pundits report in-game action to viewers with none of the match footage actually being showed.
This is also why ratings for Match of the Day remain ever-popular, though numbers are made tougher to achieve due to online streams, footage of goals appearing within seconds online and highlights uploaded to Sky Sports’ YouTube just after 5pm Saturdays.
Major European leagues in France, Spain, Germany and Italy don’t observe such a blackout, and there has been sufficient evidence to prove that closed periods do not affect the outcome of lower league football match attendance.
If anything, you’re more likely to watch more Premier League games if your based in North America or Asia rather than your own country (UK), despite the England priding themselves as a nation who are the home of football.
In February 2011, Advocate General Kokott of the European Court of Justice launched an investigation into the “closed periods” and concluded that they did not affect match attendance at lower league games.
“It is, in fact, doubtful whether closed periods are capable of encouraging attendance at matches and participation in matches,” she said in a statement .
“Both activities have a completely different quality to the following of a live transmission on television. It has not been adequately shown to the Court that the closed periods actually encourage attendance at and participation in matches.
“No closed periods were adopted in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, or in Northern Ireland, that is to say, within the sphere of influence of English football.”
In 2016, Ofcom launched an investigation into the rights of televised football and surveyed football fans about whether they wanted to see a change.
#Fans #fume #latest #Premier #League #selections #confirmed #April
